Apparatus for pickling strip or wire stock



Sept. 1, 1964 o. RUTHNER 3,146,732

APPARATUS FOR PICKLING STRIP OR WIRE STOCK Filed Aug. 8, 1961 Fig.1

I l l H. I g v 1 l Z INVENTOR ORN Y United States Patent "ice I 3,146,782 APPARATUS FOR PICKLING STRIP OR WIRE STOCK Othmar Ruthner, 6 Salmgasse, Vienna, Austria Filed Aug. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 130,115 Claims priority, application Austria Sept. 8, 1960 1 Claim. (Cl. 134122) This invention relates to an apparatus for pickling strip or wire stock, in which apparatus the direction in which the stock to be pickled enters the plant and the direction in which the pickled stock leaves the plant can be selected as desired and the stock to be pickled has a certain freedom of movement while moving through the apparatus without interfering with the application of the acid to the stock.

The invention provides an apparatus for pickling wire and strip stock, comprising upper and lower reversing rollers for guiding the stock to be pickled vertically up and down, a plurality of substantially tubular portions, each of which serves to receive one of the upwardly and downwardly moving courses of the stock to be pickled, said tubular portions having means for spraying a pickling liquor on the courses of the stock to be pickled moving through said tubular portion.

Another feature of the invention resides in that each of the tubes surrounding the individual courses of the stock to be pickled is formed by a hose, which consists preferably of plastic. It is also a feature of the invention that each of the hoses surrounding the individual courses of the stock to be pickled consists of a plurality of sections. Finally, it is a feature of the invention that a nozzle for spraying the pickling acid is provided at least at one joint between the sections forming the hose.

Further features of the invention will be explained more fully with reference to the drawing, which shows an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing the apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line IIII of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing a portion of the apparatus.

FIG. 4 to 6 illustrate three different patterns in which the stock to be pickled may be moved through the apparatus.

The apparatus according to the invention is held by a frame 1, which may have any desired form and is anchored in the floor 17 of the pickling shop. The stock to be pickled, in the present case a strip 2, is fed from a payout reel, not shown, and through a plurality of preparing means, such as straightening rolls, shears, welding apparatus, cleaning devices and the like in the direction of the arrow A around a deflecting roller 18 to a storage roller 3, which is arranged as a looper and may be slowly lowered to maintain the movement of the strip through the pickling apparatus when the supply of the strip is interrupted, e.g., while the strip is being welded. Thus, an overpickling of the strip by a prolonged standstill thereof in the pickling chamber is avoided. When the interruption has ended, the strip is moved in such a manner for a short time that the strips move around the deflecting roller 18 at a higher rate than required for the movement through the pickling chamber, which will be described hereinafter. The surplus length of the stock to be pickled is stored by a slow, upward movement of the storage roller 3 for use during the next interruption of the supply of the strip.

From the storage roller 3, the strip 2 is fed around the deflecting roller 19 to the pickling apparatus proper, in which the strip is moved up and down in loops by 3,146,782 Patented Sept. 1, 1964 means of reversing rollers 5. Each of the upward and to be pickled vertically up and down, a plurality of subdownward courses of a loop formed by the strip is surrounded by a separate tube, which is preferably formed 7 by a plastic hose 6 consisting of a plurality of sections,

in the present case three sections 6', 6", 6", at each of the joints of which an annular nozzle 7 is provided, from which pickling acid is sprayed onto the strip 2. The strip 2 is moved through the hose 6 substantially coaxially and concentrically with respect to said hose.

As is shown in FIG. 3, the annular nozzle 7 has the form of a chamber extending entirely around the strip. The inside wall of this chamber has a slot 8 extending throughout the periphery and serving to discharge the liquid. The nozzles 7 of both hoses 6 are on the same level. Pairs of adjacent nozzles 7 are carried by a joint support 16, which is held by the frame 1. The sections 6', 6", 6 of the hose 6 are secured to the nozzles 7. For this purpose, the nozzles 7 are provided on the inside with upwardly and downwardly protruding straps 9, rims or the like, on which the hose ends are fitted. The ends may either be simply fitted over the straps, as

- is illustrated at 6 in FIG. 3, or, as is shown at 6', they may have an extension 20, which is of forked shape in cross-section and embraces the strap 9 or the like on the inside and outside. To ensure that the hose ends are reliably held on the straps, pipe clips 10 and slide rings 11 are provided, which clamp the hose ends or the extensions 29 on the straps 9.

The upper section 6' of the hose may be provided with stiffeners, not shown, or may be supported by means of supporting members 21 on the frame 1, in order to retain the shape of this upper section 6.

The nozzles 7 are supplied with acid from a central feed pipe 12 by means of branch conduits 13. The acid sprayed onto the strip runs down along the same and is collected in a chamber 22 disposed below the hoses 6. From this chamber the acid is recycled by means of a pump 23 through a regenerating chamber, not shown, into the feed pipe 12 for re-use.

The strip has full freedom of movement in the hose 6. It can rotate in both directions about its central axis without interfering with the access of acid. For this reason, there is no need to provide in the hose any elements for guiding the strip, even if the hose is very long.

As has been mentioned hereinbefore, the strips can be moved in any desired direction through the pickling apparatus according to the invention. As is illustrated in FIG. 4, the strip may leave the apparatus in the same direction in which it has entered the apparatus from the payout reel 14. Alternatively, it may be deflected by a right angle or, as is shown in FIG. 6, be returned to the wind-up reel 15. FIG. 4 corresponds to the showing of FIG. 1, where the strip coming from the payout reel in the direction of the arrow A enters the pickling apparatus and leaves the same with the same orientation (direction of arrow B). In the showing of FIG. 5, the strip enters the apparatus again in the direction of arrow A, but is deflected by into the direction of arrow C after it has left the first hose 6 or in the same by the provision of appropriate deflecting rollers and after moving from top to bottom through the second hose leaves the pickling apparatus with the same orientation in the direction of arrow C. In the showing of FIG. 6, the strip enters the first hose 6 in the direction of the arrow A, is deflected between the two hoses 6 into the direction of the arrow C and is then deflected by appropriate deflecting rollers through further 90 to leave the plant in the direction of the arrow D. This is only possible because the strip can rotate in the hose 6 as desired without interfering with the pickling process.

What is claimed is:

Apparatus for pickling wire and strip stock, comprising upper and lower reversing rollers for guiding the stock stantially tubular members each receiving one of the upwardly and downwardly moving courses of the stock to be pickled, said tubular members each being formed of plastic material and in a plurality of sections, said tubular members each having a lower end opening into a collecting space, a nozzle provided in at least one joint between the sections forming each tubular member for spraying 10 a pickling liquor onto the courses of the stock moving through said members, means for feeding original and regenerated pickling liquor from said space to said nozzles, and each said nozzle including an annular chamber provided on its inner Wall with a slot which extends around 5 ling acid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Sweetland Nov. 11, 1919 Reynolds Dec. 30, 1924 Poesl Dec. 8, 1942 Pratt Oct. 7, 1947 Schefe Sept. 7, 1948 Pratt Nov. 15, 1949 Timm Nov. 22, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Austria Nov. 10, 1959 

